By James Currie<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rising once more from the shadowy corners of post-punk legend, The Chameleons return to North America with a long-awaited reunion tour that feels less like nostalgia and more like a necessary revival. Hailing from Manchester, the band\u2019s shimmering, emotionally charged sound helped define an era while quietly influencing generations that followed. Now, with their signature blend of atmospheric guitars and introspective urgency intact, The Chameleons\u2019 comeback stands as both a celebration of their enduring legacy and a reminder that truly timeless music never fades\u2014it just waits for the right moment to resonate again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heralded by a stream of overwhelmingly celebratory reviews for their latest full-length album\u00a0ARCTIC MOON\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(their first in over 24 years),\u00a0CHAMELEONS\u00a0<\/strong>are launching a North American tour which will kick off on April 7th<\/sup>\u00a0in Minneapolis and conclude on May 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0in Houston, TX with shows in Chicago, Toronto, Boston, NYC, Orlando and Nashville with many cities in-between.\u00a0 Full dates below. The Veldt will be support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n While their albums, including 2025\u2019s Arctic Moon<\/em> have been overwhelmingly embraced by new and old fans alike, their live shows are the stuff of legend. The Spill Magazine wrote of their Toronto show in August 2024, \u201cThe band played a tight set and are all incredible musicians. Special mention must be given to Vox, whose vocals are as strong as ever. The man simply does not age. When they performed songs from their debut album as encores, it was as if time stood still.\u201d Pop Dose called their Seattle show \u201cabsolute fire\u2026 I was as much mesmerized by what appeared to be [Stephen] Rice\u2019s effortless plucking of his cherry red guitar to produce gigantic melodies and intricate hooks that resonate with my soul as much as the words Vox passionately brings to life.\u201d Of their London show, Louder Than War proclaimed, \u201cChameleons performed a blistering set at Shepherd\u2019s Bush Empire, in the process revealing that one of the finest bands of the post-punk era still have plenty to say with their irrepressible melodies, nimble basslines, shimmering guitars, and intriguing lyrics\u2026 The Chameleons are still more than capable of creating some of the greatest experiences.\u201d On the same London show, The Guardian reported that the \u201cgnarled angst and integrity of Manchester\u2019s ultimate cult band remains intact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bestowed with triumphant and across-the-board stellar reviews, Arctic Moon<\/em> found Chameleons growing exponentially both musically and in popularity. Containing seven new songs including the single “Saviours Are A Dangerous Thing”<\/strong> (STREAM<\/strong><\/a> | VIDEO<\/strong><\/a>), a re-recorded version of the 2024 single “Where Are You?<\/strong>“, plus longer compositions such as the slow-burning epic “David Bowie Takes My Hand,<\/strong>” the new album has garnered a four star review in MOJO (“The Manc lizard king’s mix of head shop philosophy and mournful stadium jangle has aged well”), a 9 out of 10 review in Vive Le Rock (“It\u2019s rare for a band to recapture the magic of their youth so ably, but that\u2019s exactly what they have done here”), and an 8 out of 10 from UNCUT (“\u201cThe muscular opener confirms they mean business, with further shape-shifting amid gothic jangles and a convincing anthemic passion recalling former moody heights, while the more sprawling tracks best illustrate their 21st century relevance”). Although signaling something of a departure from the sound of their earlier albums, Arctic Moon<\/em> nevertheless remains rooted in the same emotional depth, spirit and intensity that has always defined their output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is an obvious maturity to the songwriting on this record, and anyone familiar with our past work will hear that this is a positive step forward,\u201d <\/em>bassist and singer Vox <\/strong>(Mark Burgess) has previously stated. \u201cWhile we\u2019re proud of the band\u2019s legacy, we really wanted to forge something fresh while retaining that profound and imaginative quality we\u2019re known for. We think that we have managed to do that and deliver a very strong record!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Long cited as a hugely influential act, having inspired the likes of Verve, Oasis, White Lies, The Slow Readers Club, Interpol, The Killers and Editors, among countless others and known for their transformative musical catalog and intense and emotionally charged live performances, Chameleons continues four decades in with four albums under their belt: Script of the Bridge <\/em>(1983), What Does Anything Mean? Basically!<\/em>‘ (1984), Strange Times<\/em> (1986), and Why Call It Anything?<\/em> (2001).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their unique sound quickly captivated the public through their mix of melancholic yet energetic and powerful tunes, hypnotic, ethereal riffs, and the potent, timeless lyrical style. Chameleons are considered one of the most influential guitar bands of the ’80s and ’90s, contributing substantially to the post-punk, shoegaze and indie scenes. They are often regarded as one of the most underrated bands ever to emerge from Manchester, England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2024 saw the band releasing two critically-hailed EPs \u2013 Where Are You?<\/em> which was comprised of three new songs, and Tomorrow Remember Yesterday<\/em> which contained five songs from the vault that were re-recorded, and kicked off a new chapter for Chameleons. Arctic Moon <\/em>sees the band starting a whole new book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chameleons<\/strong> are Reg Smithies <\/strong>(guitar<\/em>), Vox <\/strong>(bass, vocals, lyrics<\/em>), Stephen Rice <\/strong>(guitar<\/em>), Danny Ashberry <\/strong>(keyboards<\/em>), and Todd Demma <\/strong>(drums<\/em>). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By James Currie Rising once more from the shadowy corners of post-punk legend, The Chameleons return to North America with a long-awaited reunion tour that feels less like nostalgia and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,39,20],"tags":[2154,1397,634,2153],"class_list":["post-65300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-music-news","category-reviews","tag-arctic-moon","tag-post-punk","tag-reunion","tag-the-cameleons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65304,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65300\/revisions\/65304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}